Here's How To Pack A Suit Without Getting It Wrinkled

The Fine Young Gentleman Men have two goals when they pack— The first goal is to economize space while still having enough clothing to keep up appearances.

The second is to pack in a way that is best for your clothing; essentially, in a manner that will limit the possibility of creasing, wrinkling, stress and stains.

Before we get into how to pack your wardrobe, let's first go over a few facts that will help you keep your expectations reasonable when packing and unpacking.

First, packing is not a perfect art, it is impossible to pack, travel and unpack and not have any creases or wrinkles in any of your clothing. One of the most important things to do is the make sure things stay in place. When they are able to shift around a likelihood of creases (and thus ironing) increases.

Second, not all textiles are created equal. Certain fabrics will crease more easily than others. For instance, linen will crease just by looking at it, whereas wool is a bit hardier. Also as part of this, it is important to realize that heavier weight fabrics crease less easily than lighter weight ones. For instance, a heavy wool flannel suit will rarely crease whereas a tropical wool suit will crease relatively easily.

Third, garment bags are a waste of money. You can pack your suit, shoes and shirts in your normal suitcase and they will emerge in a similar, if not a better state.

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How to fold and pack a suit jacket: Step 1 – Place your hands in the shoulders of your jacket with the jacket facing you.

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Step 2 – Fold the jacket in half lengthwise. In other words, put the two shoulders together.

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Step 3 (a and b) – This is the trickiest step. Fold one of the shoulders inside out over the other so that you now have the lining of the jacket facing outward.

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You get it.

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Step 4 (a and b) – Fold the jacket in half, but this time fold the shoulders down to the end of the jacket.

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Like this.

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Step 5 – Place the folded pants in the fold of the jacket. This will help protect the pants and create a bit of a cushion for the jacket which should help fend off some creasing along the waist of the jacket.

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How to fold and pack your shirts: Step 1 – Lay the shirt out flat and front side down.

How to fold and pack your pants: Step 1 – Lay the pants out.

Step 2 – Fold the pants in half.

Step 3 – Fold the pants in half again and place in the fold of the jacket.

Ideally you want to bring a pair of shoe trees along with you, however, they can add weight to a bag. In a pinch, roll up your socks and stuff them in your shoes and then place the shoes with the socks (or shoe trees) in them in shoe bags.

The bags will help protect the shoes from scuffs. If you don’t want to stuff your socks in your shoes stuff them in the sides of your suitcase where there are voids. They are good to help keep things in place. Belts can be used for the same purpose.

Although a leather tie case is a nice thing to have, it is unnecessary. Plastic zip-loc bags are a mans best friend here. They keep ties and pocket squares folded and rolled up and they also protect them from moisture and potential stains. Simply roll up your ties and place them in a zip-loc bag. Pocket squares are best when folded.